The invention relates to an installation for the treatment of objects in a defined gas atmosphere.
In many production procedures for the manufacture, refining and quality improvement, substances are applied which for the improved handling are enriched with solvents. During the production these part substances evaporate and as a rule are led to the production outgoing air.
On account of existing technical regulations outgoing air purification systems must be applied in order to filter production substances which are damaging to the environment. It is known for this to use incineration installations and adsorption and absorption installations.
The occurring outgoing air volume flows are normally dependent on the intensity of the applied solvent. For safety reasons the outgoing air volume flows are considerably higher than is required caused by production. This means in each individual case an uneconomically high volume of the installation for the purification of the outgoing air. For example with the application of combustible solvents the minimum outgoing air quantity is to be selected such that during the continuing production and in particular at the start or stop of the installation under no circumstances may a mixture capable of ignition occur. This is achieved in that the outgoing air quantity is increased in such a manner that no concentrations capable of ignition may occur in the outgoing air. According to safety regulations the distance to the ignitable concentration of flammable substances in production installations is maximally 20% below the limit of inflammability. This means generally that for safety reasons at least five times the outgoing air volume is needed in order to be able to securely operate a production installation. Furthermore the high quantity of outgoing air also after its purification is contaminated with residual substances from the production.
On the basis of a substance of material class III, according to TA-Luft (Official Standard for Clean Air) then a maximum concentration of 150 mg/Nm.sup.3 is permitted after outgoing air purification. With a quantity of outgoing air of e.g. 100,000 Nm.sup.3 /h this would mean an immission of 15 kg/h which would be given to the environment.
It is known to subject certain objects to a surface treatment method, for example with suitable plastics, which for curing the coating, use UV-energy or the electron beam method. With such cases the product quality may be increased by reducing the oxygen concentration in the irradiation region. Since in the irradiation region there is a danger of ignition in any case, the concentration of oxygen is to be limited to a maximum value. An example of such a surface treatment is the coating of glass containers with a polymer.